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If he squints and goes cross-eyed, the welt isn’t too noticeable. But no one else is squinting and walking around cross eyed. Bob could cry but then he’d be dealing with red and puffy eyes too. He had been lucky enough to sneak onto base after curfew last night but now he has to deal with this .
This is a big ugly, bruised, welt sitting on his left cheek. There was no way to even pass it off as a hickey. Either people were going to think he was some type of kink maniac or they’d start asking questions. Neither options Bob wants to entertain. In his head, he runs through who’s scheduled for his event. Phoenix obviously, Maverick was meant to be up there with them too, Fanboy and Pay back…and fucking Hangman .
Bob almost slams his head into the mirror. There's no point hiding, he’d already evaded breakfast in the mess and the briefing is only so many minutes away.
The halls are so busy it actually helps Bob duck his head and slip through as he makes his way to the air strip. Everyone is already there by the time he gets onto the tarmac, Bob jogs to stand by Phoenix as they await Maverick’s briefing. She does a double take when Bob stands next to her. Instinctively she reaches to grab Bob’s jaw, turning it to the light.
“What the shit, Floyd?”
Not a single word comes to mind but before Pheonix can press the matter, Maverick’s voice booms and catches their attention. Thankfully none of the other aviators saw what Pheonix saw and by the time Maverick dismisses them to get up in the air it seems she’s dropped it, for now at least. But the only person who had a full view of Bob the entire time was Maverick.
He catches up to Bob on the way out of the hangar. “Bob! Come to my office when you land.”
Once up in the air, Bob thanks his lucky stars for the simple flight maneuvers Maverick drills them through. Anything more complex would have left Phoenix with a below standard WSO.
By the time they land Bob’s stomach is in knots and he has to keep unclenching his jaw. Fanboy definitely saw the mark on his cheek when walked back to the hangar but Bob doesn’t let him get a word out before he marches away.
He even beats Maverick back to his office and decides to take a walk to avoid seeming like he rushed here. Which did, though it wasn’t because he was looking forward to whatever Maverick had to say.
Bob shifts from foot to foot as the guy at the front desk to the unit of offices pages Maverick. The Captain’s door swings open and he nods his head, gesturing for Bob to come in. He stands to attention as Maverick sits down. Not at his desk however, on his desk. For the first time Bob evaluates what this is really about.
“Lieutenant, at ease.” Bob feels like anything but. “Do you know why I could you in?”
“My suspicion is it's my presentation, sir.” He looks straight ahead, over the top of Maverick’s head.
“Bob – Look at me.” He focuses on right between Maverick’s eyes. It’s easier that way. “That mark on your face, that happened after hours. You left yesterday completely fine. Was there an incident we should report?”
We? If Bob was anyone else (namely Hangman) he would have scoffed at that. “The incident did not occur on Navy premises, Sir.”
Maverick sighs. “What I said still stands. There’s a station in town-”
“With all due respect, Captain,” Bob cuts Maverick off. “This isn’t something I want on the books, full stop.”
“Okay,” Maverick nods his head. “This conversation is off the books. I’d like to know what happened.”
“Sir-”
“ Floyd ,” he pressed this time and Bob reminds himself that even off the books Maverick is still his superior officer and regardless of his personal feelings he is subordinate to the man.
With a breath, Bob turns to look at a jet taking off across the air strip outside the window. “I was stationed here in Miramar about a year ago and someone I was seeing at the time still had my things so I went to collect them. We had a disagreement. Simple as that.”
“What did she do, get you with a book?” Maverick asks, slightly confused.
“No sir,” Bob swallows the lump in his throat. DADT rumbled in his mind like recent memories.
“Lieutenant, assault is still assault regardless of who committed it.”
Bob shakes his head, growing irritable at the Captain’s insistence. “I’m sure armed forces take that open aproach to same-sex domestic disputes.”
The look on Maverick’s face as he quickly schools the shock in his eyes is almost comical if Bob wasn’t feeling so fed up.
“You’re saying-”
“He got me across the face with a belt buckle. End of. I’d be grateful for this off the record discussion to end.”
Maverick is quiet, his hands rest in his lap but he hasn’t dismissed Bob so he’s frozen to his spot. “That policy was repealed ten years ago.”
“With respect sir, but with the length of your enlistment I’m sure it was nothing but a blip in the background of your career. But I joined the Navy not despite but regardless and it’s been at the forefront of everything I’ve done sir.”
He can’t decipher the way Maverick looks at him. It’s quiet for a moment.
“Did you get your stuff back?”
Bob laughs. “Once he gave me this…I couldn’t be bothered anymore. It’s not worth it.”
–
Phoenix is more adept at dragging the whole story out of Bob at the Hard Deck that evening. They sit in one of the bar’s booths when Rooster comes up to him, he’s got a leather duffle bag in hand and Bob’s eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees the familiar blue and white patch. A second later his heart sinks, there’s only one reason Rooster would have his bag.
“Rooster,” Phoenix greets.
“Where’d you get that?” Bob asks, knowing the answer.
Rooster shrugs, dropping it carefully and Bob’s feet. “Maverick told me to drop it off.”
Bob drops his gaze before looking back at Rooster with a flat stare. “Did he say why?”
He shrugs and slides into the booth beside Phoenix. “Only what I needed to know.”
And right then, right there, Bob hopes that even after the Uranium mission is complete, these people who are starting to feel like family stick around.